


Guitar

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22440604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Jack can't afford to buy himself a guitar, and is embarrassed about it.
Kudos: 3





	Guitar

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request! This is also set when they were in high school!!

“Jack, we have our first real gig soon, why do you think that you can skip practice?” Rian asked, taking a bite of his sandwich. It was Friday, and the four of them were all sitting around the lunch table, talking about their upcoming band commitments.  
“Yeah dude, this isn’t just us messing around anymore, we’re finally getting the chance to play real shows,” Zack added.  
“You’re twenty five percent of this band, dude. If you’re not at practice, it wouldn’t be right,” Alex explained, making Jack look down some.  
“Okay, I’ll go. Alex’s at four, right?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah dude, it’ll be fun. You love paying, I don’t know why you’re being so weird about this. Besides, you still have to show us that new guitar you’ve been going on and on about!” Alex said, trying to lighten up the conversation.  
“That’s true, I’ll try my hardest to remember it this time!” Jack exclaimed with a fake smile.   
“Okay, so Alex’s at four, great. Off topic, but could you believe Mrs. David’s math test? I don’t remember learning half of the shit she put on it!” Rian stated, sparking an intense conversation about precalculus.   
While Jack definitely had some strong opinions on the topic of conversation, he didn’t contribute very much. Instead, he kept to himself, feeling a bit of anxiety pool in his stomach. Once lunch was finally over, Jack went to his last two classes, then drove home before his friends could catch up to him. He drove with his music turned up loud, attempting to drown out his thoughts.   
When Jack finally got to his house, he ran up to his room, and opened his laptop. After clicking a few buttons, he was on the Guitar Center website. He looked through the different Fender Stratocasters until he finally found the one.   
He’d been wanting it for so long, it was everything he ever wanted in a guitar; the size was perfect, the finish on the wood looked beautiful, everything about it was just absolutely perfect. The only thing stopping him from getting it was money.   
He had a job, but he didn’t get paid much, and the little amount of money he did make had to go towards gas and his phone bill. He’d slowly been trying to save up for it but was still nowhere near where he needed to be to afford it. The band was still relatively new, so every time they had practice, Jack would just use one of Alex’s guitars.   
In his mind, there was no way he could tell his friends that he couldn’t afford his own instrument, they’d just make fun of him to no end. Jack spent the rest of the time he had before practice watching blink videos on his laptop, trying to calm his nerves about asking Alex for what would feel like the millionth time to his spare guitar.   
Jack slowly drove over to Alex’s house, dreading that he had to keep lying to the people who were supposed to be his best friends. Once he pulled into Alex’s driveway, he took a deep breath as he walked to the front door. He let himself in with the spare key under the mat, then walked down to Alex’s basement. Everyone else was already there, talking about an upcoming English project they’d been assigned earlier.   
“Hey, Jack’s finally here!” Rian exclaimed, causing the three of them to turn to Jack.  
“Jack, where’s you new guitar?” Alex asked, quickly noticing that Jack had come in empty handed.  
“Yeah dude, did you forget it again?” Zack added.  
“Shit, I guess I did! I had to help my mom with something, and I guess that made it totally slip my mind. Can I just borrow yours again, Alex?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah, but you need to remember yours next time, that Strat will sound ten times better than my old guitar,” Alex said, handing Jack his spare guitar.  
“Don’t worry, I’ll get my shit together soon,” Jack said, taking his place in their practice space.  
“Good, let’s get started then,” Zack suggested. Overall, their rehearsal went really well, and they were all very satisfied with what they’d done by the time they were finished.  
“That was awesome! Hopefully, tomorrow’s practice will be just as good!” Rian exclaimed, earning statements of agreement from Alex and Zack.  
“Wait, we have practice tomorrow?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah dude, ten in the morning down here,” Alex replied.  
“Oh right, I knew that,” Jack said, playing off his ignorance.  
“Now that that’s sorted, let’s go get some food,” Zack suggested.  
“You guys can, I promised my dad I’d help him with stuff around the house tonight,” Jack lied.  
“Oh, okay man, no problem. We’ll see you at ten tomorrow morning,” Alex replied with a smile. Jack gave a small smile before saying his goodbyes and going out to his car. He took the long way home, feeling bummed about having to continue lying to his friends. He really loved to play, and he hated that something as trivial as money was keeping him from getting the guitar of his dreams and was causing him so much mental turmoil.   
\---------------  
“Okay man, feel better, we’ll see you at school on Monday,” Alex said, hanging up his phone.  
“He didn’t seem like he was getting sick yesterday,” Rian pointed out, sitting down at his drum kit.  
“I agree. I think he just wanted to bail on practice, which makes no sense, because forming this band was primarily his idea,” Zack added.  
“Maybe he’s actually sick, we shouldn’t just assume he’s bullshitting us,” Alex defended, still feeling skeptical himself.  
“Maybe, but he needs to start being serious about practice,” Rian stated.  
“I’m going to go to his house when we’re done with practice, and either try to take care of him, or ask why he keeps fucking around and trying to ditch. Let’s get started,” Alex decided. Once they were finished with practice, they all said their goodbyes, and Alex made his way over to Jack’s house.   
When he got there, the door was unlocked, so Alex just walked in and made his way to Jack’s room. He heard loud noises from a computer and Jack yelling from right outside of his door and felt confused. He opened Jack’s door to see his friend sitting at his desk, playing a game on his computer, and yelling something through a headset.   
Alex felt some anger go through him; he couldn’t believe that Jack actually lied earlier. Alex went to stand by Jack’s computer, and when Jack noticed Alex, his eyes went wide.  
“I’ve got to go,” Jack said into his headset before taking it off and shutting down his game.  
“Well, it looks like you’re feeling better,” Alex said, sounding annoyed.   
“Yeah, it’s like a miracle!” Jack exclaimed, knowing he was in deep shit now.  
“Jack, why’d you lie to get out of practice? Being a band takes work and practice, you do know that, right?” Alex questioned.  
“Of course I do, I-“ Jack started.  
“If you know that, then why is this even an issue?” Alex asked, cutting Jack off in a raised voice.   
“You wouldn’t get it, it’s stupid,” Jack said, sitting on his bed. An upset look appeared on his face, and Alex realized that there was something deeper going on. He walked over to Jack’s bed and took a seat next to his friend.  
“Jack, what’s going on?” Alex asked, his voice sounding much more sympathetic now.  
“It’s stupid and embarrassing,” Jack mumbled.  
“Jack, you’re my best friend, you can talk to me. I won’t make fun of you, please just tell me what’s been going on,” Alex tried.  
“Fine. I don’t have the Fender Strat,” Jack admitted.  
“Is it getting fixed or something?” Alex asked.  
“No, I don’t have it at all,” Jack replied.  
“But you said-“ Alex started.   
“I said I had it, because I didn’t want to tell you and the others that I can’t afford to get myself a guitar right now. I really want that Fender, but I can’t afford it, because my job doesn’t pay shit. I hate that I have to keep asking to use yours, and the fact that I can’t afford this is really embarrassing for me. I hate that I can’t get it. I’ve not gone to practice, because I’m embarrassed about this,” Jack explained, taking a deep breath.  
“Jack, there’s no need to be embarrassed. Guitars are expensive, and super hard to afford with a minimum wage job. I don’t mind sharing my guitar with you, I’ve never had a problem with doing that. The only thing that matters is that you have a guitar to play, and if it’s my old one, that’s perfectly fine. Wait, I just realized, if you don’t have a guitar here, how’re you so good, and how have you been writing things?” Alex continued.  
“I go to Guitar Center and play that Strat whenever I get the chance, I really do love it,” Jack replied.  
“That makes sense,” Alex stated.  
“Alex, I’m sorry I’ve been lying to you and the guys, I do feel really bad about that. I’ve just felt too embarrassed to tell the truth,” Jack said, sounding sincere.  
“It’s okay, Jack. I’m just glad I know the truth now,” Alex replied.  
“Do you think we can keep this between us for now?” Jack requested.  
“Sure, man. Now, I hate to dash, but I have to help my mom with chores. I’ll try to come over later if I can,” Alex said, getting up.  
“No problem. Thanks for being cool about all of this,” Jack said with a small smile.  
“Absolutely, man. I’ll see you around,” Alex said, walking out of Jack’s room. Jack was glad that he’d finally told the truth, and Alex got back into his car, deciding that he had a mission to accomplish.  
\--------------  
“Jack, you’re here!” Alex exclaimed, practically pulling Jack through his front odor.  
“I am, now what’s so important? It’s Sunday, the day to sleep in as late as possible,” Jack stated.  
“This’ll be better than sleep, I promise. Follow me,” Alex instructed. Jack did as he was told and followed Alex down to his basement. When they got there, Rian and Zack were sitting on the couch, talking about something trivial, but immediately stopped when they saw Jack, and big smiles formed on their faces.  
“What’s going on? Are we having a rehearsal?” Jack asked, feeling genuinely confused.   
“Kind of. So, Jack, I’ll be honest, Rian and Zack know about our talk from yesterday,” Alex stated.  
“What? I told you to keep that between us!” Jack exclaimed.  
“He’s not done,” Rian said, smiling bigger.  
“Thank you, Rian. Anyway, I told them, and the three of us had an idea. We combined some finances, and took a trip to Guitar Center,” Alex said, a big smile taking over his face.  
“No, no way,” Jack said, feeling pure shock.  
“What did we do, Alex?” Zack asked with a smirk.  
“We did this!” Alex exclaimed, pulling a sheet off of a Fender Stratocaster with a big red bow on it.  
“Holy shit, you guys got me my dream guitar?” Jack asked, absolutely stunned.  
“We had to get you to come to practice somehow!” Rian exclaimed.  
“But, the money-“ Jack started.  
“Is no big deal. Come on, try it out!” Alex said, giving Jack the guitar. He ripped off the bow and started playing.  
“Do you like it?” Zack asked.  
“I love it! Thank you, guys, so much, I seriously have no words,” Jack said, still playing the guitar.  
“You’re more than welcome, man. you’re the main reason this band exists, so you deserve to have this kick ass guitar!” Alex said, sharing a smile with Jack.  
“Now you have a guitar for our next practice!” Zack pointed out.  
“Our next practice starts right now! Come on, let’s go!” Jack exclaimed. Everyone laughed as they took their places, then started to play. Alex, Rian and Zack were glad they could help their friend out, and Jack felt very lucky to have the most wonderful friends he could hope for.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a request for someone on my Tumblr! I had a lot of fun writing it, and actually like how it turned out!! I've still got quite a few more requests that I'm working on, but if you have any, please send them in!! I'm so excited to work on what all I have right now, I think you guys will like the stories a lot. Thank you guys so much for reading my work, it really does mean a lot. Lots of love, Liv.


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